International Human Rights - Essay Example

Sur Lecturer: International Human Rights Human rights Human rights are those rights essential to all human beings, despite our sex, place of residence, nationality, religion, language, ethnic origin, and color among other status. Every individual is equally entitled to human rights with no discrimination. The human rights are all interdependent, interrelated, and indivisible. Universal human rights usually are voiced and guaranteed by law, in the forms of, customary international law, general principles, treaties, among other basis of international law. The international human rights law regulates how Governments act in particular ways or to refrain from given acts, for the reason of protecting and promoting human rights and other fundamental freedoms of people (Buergenthal, 67). Non-discriminatory and Equal Non-discrimination principle is a broadly-based one in the international human rights law. The principle stands out to be so much vital in all the key human rights treaties thereby providing the central theme of a number of international human rights conventions for example, elimination of racial discrimination and discrimination against Women. With respect to all human rights and freedoms the principle of non-discriminatory eliminates discrimination of all aspects be it color, race or any other factor. The equality blends well with the principle of non-discriminatory since every individual is born free and equal to rights and dignity. Interdependent and indivisible All human rights are interdependent, interrelated and indivisible, whether the rights are political or civil, for example, the right to life, equality before the law, and freedom of expression; social, economic, and cultural rights, for example the right to housing, work and social security, or even collective rights, for example the rights to self-determination and development. Universal and inalienable Universality principle of human rights is the foundation of international human rights law. This principle has been reiterated in various international human rights declarations, resolutions, and conventions. For instance, Vienna World Conference of 1993 giving illustrations on human rights stated that it is the role of States to promote and protect all human rights and freedoms, despite of their cultural, political and economic systems. The expression of universality of the human rights is seen when states ratify the fundamental human rights treaties beyond all boundaries and civilizations Human rights are inalienable in that they should not be taken away from the individual they are duet to, except in specific circumstances and with respect to due process. The right to liberty, for example, can be restrained if a citizen is found guilty of a crime by a court of law. Rights and Obligations. Both rights and obligations are entailed in the human rights. States assume duties and obligations under international law to fulfill protect and respect human rights. The states respect the human rights by refraining from interfering with or restricting the enjoyment of human rights. The states protect groups and individuals against abuses of human rights (Buergenthal, 92). The obligation to fulfill would portray the meaning that States must initiate positive action to enable the enjoyment of the elementary human rights. We should respect and accord others their human rights at individual level likewise as we are entitled to our own rights. International human rights law During the period 1946-1948 the United Nations delegates debated and drafted the international declaration with focus on human rights which finally developed to the standard of principles for human rights. By 1948 the new Human Rights Commission of the United Nation had captured the attention of the world. During the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt- the widow of President Franklin Roosevelt, who was an activist of human rights in her own capacity of the United States to the United Nations—the Commission drafted the document that developed to be the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Roosevelt, accredited with its inspiration, denoted the Pronouncement of Human Rights as “international Magna Carta for every human kind.” The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly resolution 217A of the UN was done on 10 December 1948 in Paris at its 3rd session (Forsythe, 2000). The United Nations member states pledged to work collectively to promote the thirty Articles of human rights. The thirty Articles had been codified and assembled into a single document in history for the first time. Consequently, a number of these rights, in various practices, have the founding parts of the constitutional laws in the today’s democratic nations. Human Rights—Historical Antecedents The Code of Hammurabi The worlds first metropolis, Babylon, was established by the ruler Hammurabi (1795-1750 BC). He was a remarkable and his reign is perceived and celebrated as the wise law-giver. The Hammurabi code of laws records made him be known as a ruler who proclaims publicly to his people an complete body of laws, organized in orderly groups, for all to read so as to be aware of whatever is expected of them (Glendon, 172). The code was engraved on a black stone monument, having a height of eight feet, and clearly planned to be reared in the view of the public. This precious stone was found in the City of Persian Mountains in 1901. It addresses the gods at its beginning and its end. The code regulates in clear and well defined strokes how the society is organized. The judge who makes mistake in a law case is fined heavily and expelled from judgeship forever. The witness who testifies untruthfully is to be slain. In fact, all the heavier crimes are punishable by death. Hammurabis code wasn’t indeed the earliest. The preceding sets of laws haven’t withstood the test of time, but several traces of the laws have been found, and Hammurabis own code evidently denotes their existence. His was just but reorganizing a legal system that was long established. Athenian Constitution, 350 BC During the 5th and the 6th centuries BC Athens was well-known for being the purest, the extreme form of democracy in the history of humanity. The libertarians got nervous at the thought of unrestrained majority rule. In addition, the great thinkers of the classical liberal tradition, like Montesquieu, Isabel Paterson and Madison learned their Greek history from the upper-class writers who included the likes of Xenophon and Thucydides, Aristotle and Plato, Plutarch and Polybius, and absorbed from them their bias stand against the democratic establishments of Athens. However, the Athenian constitution draws our attention for consideration. In the heyday of the Athenian constitution, Athens became the freest nation in the world. The definition of liberty by the Athenians was, in private perspectives, "living as one pleases," and in the public perspective, "ruling and being ruled in turn." A good number of Athenians lived up to these standards. The great philosopher, Plato, once put it that Athens is like a supermarket where everybody could pick on his own constitution, just like everyone were living under a different establishment of his own choosing. Athens was exclusively renowned for its intellectual freedom. Magna Carta sealed   The Great Charter of the Liberties of England was finally wrapped up by the king of England, John on 15 June 1215. Magna Carta happen to be the first document to be forced onto a King of England by a collection of his subjects, called the feudal barons, in an effort to protect their rights and edge his powers by law. The charter is broadly recognized throughout the English speaking world as an imperative part of the protracted historical course that led to the rule of constitutional law in England and elsewhere. The 1215 charter requisite that the King John to proclaim some definite liberties and assent that his will was not arbitrary. The Magna Carta had bearing on common and constitutional law inclusive of political representation imposing an impact on the development of parliament. The charters association with ideals of equality, democracy, limitation of power, and freedom under law has appealed placement at Runnymede of monuments. The Bill of Rights 1689 Bill of Rights was permitted by the Parliament on 16th December 1689. It was the Declaration of Right in form of statutory presented by the parliament to Mary and William in March 1689, inviting the prince and the princesses to become joint sovereigns of England (Peters et al., 219-222). It stipulated the limits on the powers of sovereign and specified the rights of Parliament and regulations for freedom of speech in Parliament, the conditions for elections to Parliament and the right to petition the monarch fearless of retribution. The Bill of Rights alongside the 1701 Act of Settlement  is still in effect. It is among the main constitutional laws leading the succession to the United Kingdom’s throne and the renown British colonialism, the resulting doctrine of reception—to the governance of other Commonwealth realms, by agreeable deference to the act as a British statute or the specific realms constitution. International Labor Organization (ILO), 1919 The international Labor organization joined the UN in 1946 basically as the first specialized organization of the United Nations. It was fundamentally formed to join employers, governments, and workers in promotion of freedom of association, least standards of essential labor rights, the right to organize, eradication of forced labor, collective bargaining, equality of treatment opportunity among other conditions within the scope of work-related issues. The international human rights movement The international human rights movement in the past decades has had a crucial contribution in the struggle against cruelties in wars, totalitarian regimes, and crimes against humanity. In the recent times the international human rights movement deals with the abuse of power by government and the war against terror. Aryeh Neier has been a leading character and a founder of the International Human Rights Movement (Symonides, 311). He has offered an authoritative and comprehensive account of the worldwide forces since the movement begun and the subsequent significance of the movement in the present world affairs. The movements origins marks the view of the dissenters who fought for religious freedoms in England in 17thC and the abolitionists who were against slavery afore the Civil War era. Neier argues that the modern-day human rights movement was, to a greater extent, a consequence of the Cold War, and he validates how it became the driving effect in international law, rights and institutions. The International Human Rights Movement (IHRM) is a powerful tool and one of the most positive social justice movements of today, establishing universal ideologies that govern how citizens and non-citizens should be treated by the states, and challenges authoritarian rulers and dictators (Glendon, 121). IHRM is strengthened and equally strengthens the complex network of institutions, norms and laws that constitute an operational global system that constructs on its self progressively, energized by strong NGOs e.g. International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, Legal Resources Center, Human Rights Watch, Witness, Kenyan Human Rights Commission and International Center for Transitional Justice. Economic and Social Rights Human rights are categorized fundamentally on  dignity and freedom. The freedom and dignity aspects of human rights are severely compromised when people can’t meet their basic needs. Economic and social rights give assurance that every individual be afforded conditions in which they are capable of meeting their basic needs. Economic and social rights would include: The Right to Health The right to health ensures the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health that includes access to air, clean water, care, sanitation, housing, adequate food and nutrition. The right to health assures a form of health provision to all and should be provided equitably as a public good. The health providing areas and experts should be accessible.   The Right to Housing  This right entails ensuring admission to a secure, safe, habitable, and affordable home with independence from forced eviction. The government is obliged to provide everyone with the right to live free from insecurity but a place full of dignity and peace. The right to housing should be provided irrespective of the income levels or accessibility to economic resources.  The Right to Education The building of human capital entails access to better schools and learning institutions aiming at developing the human personality. This enables everyone to participate efficiently in a free society. The Right to Food  The right to food guarantees freedom and liberty from hunger and effectively ensures access to safe and nutritious food stuffs.   The Right to Social Security This right provides that everyone regardless of sex, age, religion or ability to work has the means essential to procure basic services and needs. The Right to Work The right to work ensures that everyone has an opportunity to secure a fulfilling and dignified work prescribed with safe and healthy conditions and also tagged with fair wages that enables one to afford decent living for ones family and oneself. Again it also has provisions for freedom from unemployment and the right to organize into labor groups. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The foundation of International Human Rights Law The Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a greater extent is agreed to be the basis of international human rights law. The UDHR was adopted in 1948 and inspired a rich body of legally obligatory international human rights treaties. The adoption of the declaration continues to be an inspiration to a number of people in addressing injustices, in societies suffering repression, in times of conflicts, and in our efforts towards attaining universal enjoyment of human rights. The declaration is a representation of the universal recognition that the fundamental freedoms and basic rights are inherent, equally applicable and inalienable to every human being. Everyone is born free and equal in rights and dignity. Despite our nationality, gender, place of residence, national or ethnicity, color, language, and religion; the international community was committed to advocate for the dignity and justice for everyone on December 10 1948. The convention on discrimination against women The Convention on the Elimination of all practices of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. The CEDAW is often referred to as an international bill of rights for women (Vincent, 1986). CEDAW defines those elements that constitutes discrimination against women and prescribes an outline for national action to finish such discrimination. The Convention describes discrimination against women as a restriction or exclusion imposed on the basis of sex which is perceived to impair or nullify the exercise, recognition, and enjoyment by women, regardless of their marital status, and equality in the economic, political, cultural, social and civil. Implementation This is the compliance by states to the every human rights standard, principles together with the necessary initiatives taken by these states and international governments or other bodies to prevent more violations and enhance human rights respect. Customary law and international treaties create the mainstay of global law, other mechanisms, such as principles and guidelines implemented at international levels add to its implementation and growth. Implementation at national level This largely depends on political, economic and socio-cultural rights of nations to be in compliance with international standards (Doebbler, 39). Cooperative networks of international institutions and non-nations actors and all ensure that international standards and norms are effectively implemented. Implementation of international human rights entails many activities that are to improve compliance by nations, such as Enacting administrative or national laws that are in compliance with the standards of human rights. Establishing and strengthening institutions that support human rights. Strengthening government’s judicial branch. Improving health standards. Improvement of prison conditions. To implement them, states must incorporate the standards of international human rights into their domestic law. Generally international accords do not instruct how nations should implement these standards, therefore leaving it to nations to make decisions on how implementation of duties will be done at domestic levels. Methods such as incorporation, adoption, transformation and reference are examples of domestic methods that are used for international human rights standards implementation (Gibney, 53). International human rights effects cannot be measured in the legislation’s and constitution’s basis of a given nation only. If there is incorporation of international standards in national law, it becomes easier for local courts and other legal representatives to apply them. However, in cases where international human rights agreements have not been adopted locally, domestic courts can apply international standards guidelines in interpreting local law. Local implementation of human rights standards requires coordinated efforts from all government branches i.e. the judiciary, executive and legislative. Education and training in human rights law is also important for effective and proper implementation of human rights at local levels. Establishment of local human rights institutions is also crucial as far as protections of human rights is concerned and promote ease of information’s availability to all individuals more especially the most vulnerable groups Most states are encouraged to increase human right’s awareness and the possible solutions to rights violated. Implementation at international level In developing countries, the implementation of human rights values can be very difficult. This is because lack of resources imposes difficulties in achieving compliance with international human rights within a rational time. For example a state may require that individuals have the right to good housing, health, education and other standards, it may lack the capacity to change living conditions of all individuals to bring them to the required levels by international norms. Enforcement This occurs at both domestic and international levels. Nations that endorse human rights agreements commit to protecting, respecting, and fulfilling all rights, and making sure that their national law is well-matched with international laws (Martin, 107). When national law doesn’t offer a remedy for abuse of human rights, affected persons are able to opt to international laws for remedy. When a state ratifies an agreement it assumes both negative and positive responsibilities, negative obligations are those that are aimed at refraining from activities that do not respect human rights while positive obligations involve taking the right actions to guarantee for the protection of human rights. To ensure that both positive and negative obligations are fulfilled by governments, the UN system comprises the following enforcement mechanisms that are characterized by type of United Nation’s body that receive all communication and carry out the necessary monitoring process. Charter based enforcement mechanisms- include the United Nations Commission on women status. Agreement based or convention mechanisms- example, Discrimination Elimination against Women Committee. Mechanisms that are contained in United Nations expert organizations- include World sHealth Organization or International Labor Organization. They both monitor either a particular treaty or specific human rights. Remedies under national law; judicial enforcement of international standards It’s a belief of international standards that human rights protection should be exercised by local governments. State remedies are always seen as more effective and efficient than international laws because it’s easy to access them, progress much quicker and often require fewer resources. Seeking international mechanisms may be last resort, when a nation has been defeated in correcting the violation or carrying out justice. Before resorting to any international body, e.g. the European or the UN human rights Court, a person must first try to taking necessary corrective actions using national law (Moeckii, 67). Application of domestic remedies to solving issues relating to human rights violation requires using all local available measures in seeking protection from human rights abuses and violations that are likely to occur in future and seek justice for past violations and abuses. Domestic remedies normally range making a complaint with police to seeking legal redress in court. Complains to international body must include proofs that local remedies have been fully exhausted, inclusive of information on any legal actions that took place in a particular country. There are fewer exceptions to the obligation that national remedies be fully exhausted. International standards recognize that national remedies may be ineffective, reasonably delayed or unavailable (Steiner, 89). In such cases, it’s not essential to address the state mechanisms first if it may be persuasively demonstrated that there are no national remedies available. Domestic remedies however should not establish unjustified impairments to allow local residents have access to available international remedies. International enforcement of human rights norms, the UN system The UN system forms the legality of international awareness in the safeguard and protection of all human rights. It’s acknowledged that sovereignty is restricted with respect to all human rights. International regulation is legal and nations are accountable to any international establishments for national acts that affect human rights. Agreements standards are the scale for valuation and concern. Ratification in the agreements system and receipt of communication measures have raised rapidly in the past years due to increased awareness in human rights. NGOs; monitoring and reporting human rights violation Monitoring and reporting measures usually differ from complaint procedures in that monitoring doesn’t depend much on information that is communicated by persons or groups and there is no legally binding judgment that is resulted from it. Monitoring and evaluation by NGOs can be; State reporting The six essential human rights accords have established commissions that monitor its implementation.  Once a state has ratified these agreements, it is obligatory to report regularly to the monitoring body.  Nations are required to report on their agreement with the contract, but the commissions have no authority to impose this requirement.  Thus, it’s not uncommon for national administrations not to submit a report or miss reporting targets. State reporting period have successfully been used by Non-Governmental Organizations as their instrument for advocacy. Mostly, NGOs submit shadow reports that offer an alternative view of a nation’s compliance with agreement duties.  NGOs also monitor many proceedings of Committee’s as observers.  Committee reporting Information from NGOs normally brings certain issues to UNs body attention, for example Commissions on women’s status that will then conduct a research and issue or suggest recommendations. Advocates role in the monitoring and reporting process is different from their roles in the complaint process (Weissbrodt, 147). While in the absence of circumscribed communication procedures, NGOs have successfully addressed numerous UN commissions throughout reporting periods to increase women’s rights awareness. Majority of UN commissions have indicated that, commissions members rely more on NGOs information I determining whether involved nations fulfilling duties and responsibilities under specific requirements.  Works cited. Buergenthal, Thomas, Dinah Shelton, and David P. Stewart. International Human Rights in a Nutshell . St. Paul, MN: West Group, 2002. Print. Forsythe, David P. Human Rights in International Relations . Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print. Glendon, Mary A. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . New York: Random House, 2001. Print. International Labor Organization Report: 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians :Geneva, 24 November-5 December 2008 . Geneva: International Labour Office, 2008. Print Peters, Julie, and Andrea Wolper. Womens Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives . New York: Routledge, 1995. Print. Symonides, Janusz. Human Rights: Concept and Standards . Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2000. Print. The Story of Human Rights . Los Angeles, Calif.: United for Human Rights, 2009. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60th Anniversary Special Edition, 1948-2008 . New York: United Nations Dept. of Public Information, 2007. Internet resource. Vincent, R J. Human Rights and International Relations . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Print. Doebbler, Curtis F. International Human Rights Law: Cases and Materials. Washington, DC: CD Pub, 2004. Gibney, Mark. International Human Rights Law: Returning to Universal Principles. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Internet resource. Martin, Francisco F. International Human Rights & Humanitarian Law: Treaties, Cases, & Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Moeckli, Daniel, Sangeeta Shah, and Sandesh Sivakumaran. International Human Rights Law. , 2013. Steiner, Henry J, Philip Alston, and Ryan Goodman. International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals : Text and Materials. Oxford [UK: Oxford University Press, 2008. Weissbrodt, David S, and Connie . Vega. International Human Rights Law: An Introduction. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. Read More